Don't Jump
by BrookenLucas12
Summary: Slightly AU. Nathan's going to plunge to his death, and Haley intervenes. Oneshot.


**Author's Note**: So this idea like, just came to me a few minutes before I wrote this. I thought it would be pretty cool, so I just - wrote! I hope everyone enjoys it, as it was very fun to write.  
**Also**: It takes place like, season one, had Nathan never met Haley. Neither had Lucas. You'll see though. It's pretty alternate universe, which you'll also see. I didn't edit it or anything, so it might suck. But yeah. It was fun to write, and hopefully it'll get some reviews. Thanks.

-

**Don't Jump**

The wind blew softly threw her hair, causing Haley great annoyance. She had even considered putting her hair in a pony-tail that morning.

Not that that was what was really bothering her. In all honesty, it was the fact that she was sixteen years old, and she didn't have a car. How often did that happen these days?

She kicked at a few rocks on the ground, beginning her journey over the large bridge in Tree Hill. It didn't have a name or anything, but it was on the corner of River Road and Diamond Lane. And it was pretty big too.

Sighing, she took a look over. The road below was pretty empty, and very far down. But that wasn't what caught her attention.

The teenage boy about to jump did.

There was a ledge, about a foot or so beneath the actual large railing. He was standing right there, looking completely terrified - as anyone would if they were minutes away from crashing down to their death.

"Hey! Hey, what are you doing?" Haley shouted down at him. He looked up at her, and bit his lip, looking back down.

"Oh my God.." She muttered, pulling out her cell phone and quickly dialing the police line. "Hi, um, there's this guy on the bridge between River and Diamond, and he's going to jump!"

The officer told her she'd simply have to be patient while they got a squad car out there, so Haley decided to take matters into her own hands.

"My God," She said, frustrated. Squeezing her eyes shut, she felt her feet land on the ledge. Once she felt steady enough, she turned herself around, so she was at the same angle he was.

"What are you doing?" He looked towards her. He was really good looking, she noticed. Dark hair, and huge blue eyes. Tall, too.

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

He shrugged. "It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure that out. I'm going to kill myself."

"Oh. That's, uh, nice. Want to talk for a while?"

"Not really."

"Fair enough. I'm Haley."

He hesitated. "Nathan."

Nathan. Nathan. That was a nice name.

"So tell me, Nathan, why exactly do you want to kill yourself?"

"Are you a shrink or something?"

"If I was, I probably would have been charging you for this. Now, come on. Can we at least sit down?" She felt she'd be safer if she could dangle her feet down, then risk tripping.

"You're wasting your time."

"If you're going to kill yourself anyway, what's another fifteen minutes?" She snapped.

He nodded. She had a good point. "Fine. But you're seriously wasting your time."

"That's what I said."

He made a face. "What?"

"Nothing."

It took a while for them to actually get themselves seated, but when they finally did, Haley felt safer already. She looked down, to where her feet were dangling.

"So, what's the point of this?"

"Well, I'm going to try to convince you that you're making a mistake."

"But I'm not."

"Trust me. This is like," She paused, searching for the words, "A permanent solution for a temporary problem."

"It's not temporary." Nathan shook his head, looking down sadly.

"How so?"

"My life is just - so fucked up."

"Um, everyone's is."

He looked at her. She was kind of pretty. With her brown hair, large, curious, chocolate brown eyes, and cute nose. "Not like mine."

"That's what I thought too," She told him, "When I was going to kill myself a year ago. I was going to jump off this exact bridge, although it was like, fifteen steps to the right."

Nathan bit his lip. "What made you decide not to do it?"

"This random police officer. He said, 'Your life is worth it. I want you here.' And, I guess that was enough for me. Sometimes all you need is one person to help you open your eyes."

"So?" He shrugged.

Haley grabbed his hand. "So, your life's worth it. I want you here."

"That doesn't help me." He whispered, unsurely.

He dropped her hand, looking straight forward. "I'm going to jump off this bridge. And not you - or anybody else - is going to stop me."

"Okay, okay." She sighed, looking around. Damn, those police officers took forever. He could have jumped and taken her with him by now.

"It's my own fault, really.." He said quietly.

Haley kept her gaze on his. Although he wouldn't really look her in the eye, she wanted him to know she was listening.

"My dad. He's like, this failed basketball player. He would have been one of the greats, had it not been for this knee injury of his. And so now, he's making me live out his dream. And I love basketball, don't get me wrong. But he's making me hate it. He rides me so hard. And all he ever does is pick me apart, and tell me how much fucking better he is then me."

"I'm sorry."

"And my mom's so helpless. She wants to divorce him. But he won't let her. He's this powerful asshole, and he doesn't even realize he's hurting everyone he supposedly loves."

"So why let him win? By jumping, you're not hurting him.."

"It's not just him. I mean, my life is spinning out of control. I've been like, taking speed and stuff, to enhance my performance. Well, I was. And it messed me up pretty bad. Broke my mom's house. You know, I'll never forget the facial expression she had when she found out. Like, she failed."

"And jumping's going to prove she didn't?" Haley smiled.

"Then there's my brother. He's my half brother. And I'm a jackass to him most of the time, but he's a pretty good guy, you know? He doesn't deserve to be treated the way I treat him.

And then there's Peyton. She's my ex-girlfriend. I treated her pretty cruel too. I just threw her around. Used her. Cheated on her. She had every right to break up with me."

"Nathan, you can fix all these things! You don't need to kill yourself to solve this problem."

"Yeah, Haley, I do. You don't even know the half of it, okay?" He snapped.

"Fine. Jesus." Haley rolled her eyes, looking down at his hands. They were shaking. The poor guy was terrified.

"This is just, it's for the better." He seemed to be telling himself this, more then her.

Haley nodded, looking down below her. She swung her feet back and forth, wondering what would happen if she fell on accident as well.

"Hey," She said after a moment, "I'll give you a dollar if you don't jump."

He chuckled. "Thanks, but I'll pass."

"It was worth a shot." She shrugged.

They sat there for a while, silent.

"So, what if you like, jump and don't die? I mean, then you'll just be like paralyzed, and still alive."

"That's not going to happen." Nathan rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, you're probably right. But I mean, don't you even care about your family? How they're going to take it and stuff."

"Trying not to think about that."

"Well, then you're being really selfish, if you ask me."

"I didn't ask you." He said firmly.

"After I tried to kill myself," She said, after a minute or two had passed, "I couldn't look my mom in the eye for like a week. She was trying to make me feel all warm and happy, but all I could feel was guilt. Because, looking back on it, I'd been so selfish. I mean, I was just going to kill myself - without an explanation - and expect my parents not to blame themselves?"

"My mom's going to blame herself," Nathan said in a small voice. "Look. If you're, if you're still around after I jump, when my mom comes, can you just tell her I love her? And that it wasn't her fault?"

"Why don't you just not jump, and tell her yourself?"

"No," Nathan shook his head, "No. I have to do this. I promised myself I would. Since this morning, I knew I was going to wake up, go to school, and then walk here, and jump off this bridge."

"So then why haven't you yet?"

"You." He said simply, looking over at her.

"Well, I guess I'm just wasting both our time then." Haley shrugged, slowly managing to stand up.

He looked confused. He stood also. "What?"

"You said your life was a living hell, and you were here to kill yourself. You're going to jump off this bridge because of your mom, and your dad, and your brother, and your ex-girlfriend, and because your life sucks."

"Yeah." Nathan bit his lip, nodding.

"So jump." Haley challenged.

"What?"

"You said you were going to jump, so jump."

Nathan looked down. She made it seem so simple. And it was what he'd come here to do, wasn't it?

He looked over at her. Tears filled his beautiful, blue eyes.

"I don't want to jump." He whispered, his voice full of emotion.

She smiled, grabbing his hand. "I know. Everything's going to be okay."

"Thank you." He cried, pulling her carefully into a hug, inhaling her strawberry flavored shampoo.

"Oh, you're so welcome." She said softly into his jacket.

"Hey! Nathan Scott! Don't jump, son!" Both teenagers looked up, seeing a police officer.

"It's okay, Sir. She's already convinced me not too. I'm not going to."

"Thank God. Okay, just don't move! We're going to get you both back up here!"

Nathan looked back over at Haley. "I owe you my life."

"Please. Just take me out for some ice cream, and we'll call it even." She grinned.

He smiled too. God, he had a great smile.

"Deal."


End file.
